Qatar Airways announces flight cancellations until March 6; Srilankan Airlines resumes flights to Dubai
Jinnah Airport. Photo: PPI (file)
KARACHI:
Pakistan’s international airports are seeing widespread flight cancellations for the fifth consecutive day due to ongoing regional tensions in the Gulf, with a total of 578 flights to Gulf countries, including the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, having been canceled since March 28, with 162 flights canceled on Wednesday alone.
Affected carriers include Emirates, Etihad, Air Arabia, PIA, Air Blue, Fly Dubai and Qatar Airways. Sources report that 578 flights to Middle Eastern countries have been canceled from Pakistani airports in the last five days.
At Karachi airport, 40 flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Sharjah, Kuwait and Bahrain were canceled. Islamabad Airport recorded 38 cancellations to destinations including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait and Sharjah. Lahore airport had 28 cancellations, Peshawar 24, Multan 18, Sialkot 8 and Faisalabad 6 flights were affected.
The United States and Israel launched joint strikes in Iran that left 201 people dead and more than 700 injured. Iranian state media has confirmed that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, 86, died while working at his central leadership complex, alongside members of his family, including his daughter and grandchildren.
Since then, Iran has targeted several US bases in neighboring Gulf states, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq, forcing several countries to temporarily close their airspace.
Read: Americans stranded in the Middle East should not rely on the U.S. evacuation hotline.
Qatar Airways also issued an update confirming that its flight operations will remain suspended until March 6 due to the continued closure of Qatari airspace. Passengers will receive further updates on March 6 at 9:00 a.m.
The airline added that operations would resume once airspace was safely reopened and advised passengers to check their website for the latest updates.
Meanwhile, SriLankan Airlines resumed limited flight operations between Colombo and Dubai on Wednesday, following a suspension that began on February 28.
Flight UL231 will depart from Colombo to Dubai, while return flight UL232 will take passengers back to Colombo, the airline confirmed.
